Gaming environment having advertisements based on player physiology

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus, and system of selective advertising includes a gaming server to receive a request to play a game of chance from a gaming device, transmit gaming data to the gaming device, the gaming data associated with the requested game of chance, and receive player data, the player data associated with the player&#39;s eye movement, gestures, or change in state. The server may also be configured to analyze the player data, determine a context associated with the player data; and initiate an action based on the determined context.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/216,986, filed Mar. 17, 2014, and entitled “DETERMINATION OFADVERTISEMENT BASED ON PLAYER PHYSIOLOGY”, which is hereby incorporatedby reference herein, which in turn claims priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/789,332, filed Mar. 15, 2013, and entitled“DETERMINATION OF ADVERTISEMENT BASED ON PLAYER PHYSIOLOGY”, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gaming devices are ubiquitous in casinos and other gamblingestablishments. These devices, often in the form of slot machines, allowa user to place a wager on a game of chance and/or skill. Players ofslot machines are captive audiences for the duration of the play sessionthat could last hours.

However, gaming establishments are always looking for ways to captivateplayers to keep them at their establishment playing the gaming devices.Additionally, gaming establishments are always looking for ways togenerate income. Advertisements (ads) from third party advertisers maybe a way for the gaming establishment to generate additional income.However, unlike broadcast TV, radio, newspaper, and the Internet, thereare no meaningful revenue generated by advertisements for the gamingestablishments. Countless hours of legal and regulated video content areserved up to the captive slot players each year for the 600 milliontrips that they make, but no meaningful advertisement revenue isrealized.

Some attempts to insert advertisements on game devices have been made byreplacing the reel symbols with pictures or logo's of products beingadvertised. However, it proved to be a failure as the games becomeconfusing, and distracting to player. It also alienates players as thereare no incentive for players to play on a heavily advertised gamingdevice when a nearby gaming device offers a pure entertainmentexperience without the distraction and delays associated with sponsoredadvertisements.

OVERVIEW

The present disclosure relates generally to advertisements. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates generally to determiningadvertisements to be displayed on gaming machines. Even moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates generally to determiningadvertisements to be displayed on gaming machines based on a player'sphysical body movement, such as eye movement.

In one embodiment, a system of selective advertising comprises: a gamingserver configured to: receive a request to play a game of chance from agaming device; transmit gaming data to the gaming device, the gamingdata associated with the requested game of chance; receive player data,the player data associated with the player's eye movement, gestures, orchange in state; analyze the player data; determine a context associatedwith the player data; and initiate an action based on the determinedcontext. The gaming device is configured to: receive the gaming data;display the gaming data on a display of the gaming device. A sensorproximate the gaming device may be configured to detect player data, theplayer data includes at least data based on player eye movement,gestures, or change in state.

In another embodiment, a method for selecting advertisements based onplayer physiology comprises transmitting, by a gaming device, a requestto play a game of chance; receiving gaming data at the gaming device,the gaming data associated with the requested game of chance;determining, by a sensor, if there is player eye movement changes;determining, by the sensor, if there is player movement; recording theplayer eye movement changes if it is determined that there is player eyemovement changes; and recording the player movement if it is determinedthat there is player movement.

In still another embodiment, a method for selecting advertisementscomprises receiving, by a gaming server, a request to play a game ofchance; transmitting gaming data to a gaming device, the gaming dataassociated with requested game of chance; receiving player data, theplayer data including at least player gesture movement, eye movement, orstate change; analyzing the player data; determining at least oneadvertisement based upon the analyzed player data; transmitting the atleast one advertisement to the gaming device; determining a contextassociated with the player data; and initiate an action based on thedetermined context.

The present invention provides other hardware configured to perform themethods of the invention, as well as software stored in amachine-readable medium (e.g., a tangible storage medium) to controldevices to perform these methods. These and other features will bepresented in more detail in the following detailed description of theinvention and the associated figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodimentsand, together with the description of example embodiments, serve toexplain the principles and implementations.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example gaming system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method for determining advertisements todisplay on a gaming device.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example method for determining advertisementsto display on a gaming device.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another example method for determiningadvertisements to display on a gaming device.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example computing system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments are described herein in the context of determination ofadvertisement based on player physiology. The following detaileddescription is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any waylimiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to suchskilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference willnow be made in detail to implementations as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be usedthroughout the drawings and the following detailed description to referto the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of theimplementations described herein are shown and described. It will, ofcourse, be appreciated that in the development of any such actualimplementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be madein order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliancewith application- and business-related constraints, and that thesespecific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from onedeveloper to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such adevelopment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those ofordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps,and/or data structures may be implemented using various types ofoperating systems, computing platforms, computer programs, and/orgeneral purpose machines. In addition, those of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature, suchas hardwired devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or the like, may alsobe used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example gaming system. The gaming system 100includes a plurality of gaming devices. Gaming devices may be gamingmachines 104 or mobile gaming devices 108. Mobile gaming devices 108 maybe any portable device capable of playing games (e.g. games of chance,video games, and the like) such as, for example, portable telephones,laptops, computers, notebooks, tablets, media players, and the like.Although illustrated with one gaming machine 104 and one mobile gamingdevice 108, this is not intended to be limiting as there may be aplurality of gaming machines 104 and a plurality of mobile gamingdevices 108. The gaming devices 104, 108 may be configured tocommunicate with a gaming server 112 via network 102. The gaming devices104, 108 may communicate with gaming server 112 via any wired orwireless connection. Wireless connections may be any known wirelessmethods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wireless technology,Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-field magneticcommunication, Fire Wire, WiMax, LTE, IEEE 802.11x technology, radiofrequency, narrow-beam infrared (IR) sensor, RFID tag, vibration sensoror any other known wireless methods.

The gaming machine 104 may have a sensor 106 and mobile gaming device108 may have a sensor 110. Although illustrated with one sensor 106,110, this is not intended to be limiting as gaming machine 104 andmobile gaming device 108 may have a plurality of sensors to trackdifferent movements and states of the player. Sensors 106, 110 may beconfigured to determine or track movement, mental state, or physicalstate of the player. In one embodiment, sensors 106, 110 may beconfigured to determine or track the gaze or direction of a human eye.For example, if the player is playing a car racing game that has manybillboards (e.g. billboards advertising food, liquor, electronics,entertainment, tournaments, and the like), the sensor 106, 110 may trackwhere on the screen, and whether the player is looking at the billboardswhile driving the racing car. In another embodiment, the sensor maytrack whether the player is looking at an avatar associated with playingcertain games of chance. In yet another embodiment, the sensor maydetermine that the player is looking at the spin button on gamingdevices 104, 108.

The sensors 104, 108 may be any known sensors designed to determine ortrack the gaze of an eye, such as a camera. Additionally, any known eyetracking movement methods may be used to determine or track the gaze ofthe eye such as, for example, the method described in U.S. Pat. No.7,986,816 entitled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MULTIPLE FACTORAUTHENTICATION USING GAZE TRACKING AND IRIS SCANNING”. Once player eyemovement is detected by the sensor 106, 108, the detected eye movementdata and the location of the stare (e.g. pictures or images of theplayer's eye) may be transmitted to the gaming server 112, via network102, for analysis.

In the same or another embodiment, sensors 106, 110 may be configured todetermine or track gestures or facial expressions from the player. Forexample, if the player wins a bonus, the player may smile. If the playerlost at a game of chance, the player may turn the smile into a frown.The sensors 104, 108 may be any known sensors designed to determine ordetect gestures and facial expressions, such as a camera. A well-knowngesture sensor is Microsoft's Kinect® 3D sensor. Additionally, any knowngesture detection method may be used to determine or track humangestures. Once player gesture, facial expression, or movement isdetected by the sensor 106, 108, the detected gesture data (e.g.pictures or images of the player's face, body, hands, and the like) maybe transmitted to the gaming server 112, via network 102, for analysis.

In still the same or another embodiment, sensors 106, 110 may beconfigured to track the state of a player. States of a player may be anybiological or physiological state, for example, body temperature, oxygenlevel, heart rate, skin color (e.g. facial), breathing rate, and anyother biological or physiological state. For example, sensor 106, 110may detect that a player has a lower than normal temperature, low oxygenlevel and a high heart rate. In another example, sensor 106, 110 maydetect a higher than normal temperature reading and fast heart rate fromthe player. In one embodiment, sensors 106, 100 may be an infraredcamera that continuously monitors a player's face for temperaturechanges in various areas and dynamically compare the changes to a presetbaseline measurement to quantify the player's state changes. In anotherembodiment, sensor 106,100 may be a camera that captures the player'sfacial expression in visible light and dynamically compare the variationto a baseline measurement to quantify the player's state change(emotional expression, in this case). Whenever an optical sensor, suchas a camera, is being used, the analysis of state change can be done bycomparing variations between successive video frames using known digitalimage processing methods such as pixel subtraction, genetic programming,and the like.

The sensors 104, 108 may be any known sensors designed to determine ordetect biological or physiological changes in a player, such as, forexample a temperature sensor, a conductivity/resistivity sensor, a PHlevel sensor, a salinity sensor, camera, and the like. In oneembodiment, the physiological sensor may be positioned on the gamingmachine in a location known to be in contact with the player, such asthe “spin” button, “cash out” button, and the like. In anotherembodiment, the physiological sensor may be an IR camera configured todetect human temperature or a visible light spectrum camera to detectfacial expressions. Additionally, any known biological or physiologicalchange detection method may be used. Once a change in state of theplayer is detected by the sensor 106, 108, the detected state changedata (e.g. thermal image of the player's face, heartbeat, detection ofsweaty or clammy hands, facial expressions, and the like) may betransmitted to the gaming server 112, via network 102, for analysis.

Gaming server 112 may receive the eye movement data, gesture data,and/or change state data and analyze the data using analysis server 118.Analysis server 118 may have a gesture database 120, movement database122, and state database 124. Each database 120, 122, and 124 may beconfigured to store associated data (e.g. gesture database 120 may storegesture data; movement database 122 may store eye movement data; statedatabase 124 may store change state data, baselines and thresholds data)and at least one associated context. The associated context may be anextrapolation, determination, inference, or anticipation of what theplayer may desire, want, or feel.

Example 1

Examples described herein for illustrative purposes only and notintended to be limiting. For example, although illustrated with a carracing game, any other non-gaming (e.g. video games) or games of chancemay be played such as Keno, black jack, poker, and the like.

A player playing a car racing game may gaze to a billboard advertisingbeer. The sensor 106, 108 may detect this eye movement and transmit theeye movement data to the gaming machine server 112 for analysis usingthe analysis server 118. Analysis server 118 may analyze the eyemovement data using movement database 122, player tracking database 128,games database 130, advertisement database 116, etc. Movement database122 may have a table to map eye movements to at least one associatedcontext. In this example, eye movements looking at beer may beassociated with the context of having a desire to drink beer, a feelingof thirst, or being hot.

Simultaneously, before, or after detecting the eye movement, sensor 106,110 may detect the player wiping sweat off his forehead. The sensor 106,110 may also determine that the player does not remove his hands fromthe steering wheel (or any other input device, such as a joystick,trackball, and the like) often other than to wipe his forehead. Thiscombination of detected gestures may be detected and transmitted togaming server 112 for analysis by analysis server 118. Analysis server118 may analyze the gesture movement using gesture database 120. Gesturedatabase 120 may have a table to map gestures to at least one associatedcontext. In this example, wiping sweat off a forehead may be associatedwith the context of being hot. Not moving his hands from the steeringwheel often may be associated with the context of excitement and joyfrom playing the racing game and concentrating hard.

Simultaneously, before, or after detecting the eye movement and/orgesture, sensor 106, 110 may detect that the temperature of the playerhas decreased by five degrees, the player's hands are clammy, and hisbreathing and heart rate has increased. This change state data may bedetected and transmitted to gaming server 112 for analysis by analysisserver 118. Analysis server 118 may analyze the change state data usingstate database 124 in the context of the game database 130 and theplayer database 128, for instance. State database 124 may have a tableto map different state changes to at least one associated context. Inthis example, an increase in temperature may be associated with thecontext of being hot, sick, or running a fever. The high breathing andheart rate may be associated with the context of being excited playingthe game. The slow blinking of the eyelids may be associated with thecontext of being tired. The smiling facial expression may be associatedwith happiness.

Based on each associated context, individually or collectively, analysisserver 118 may determine that the player is excited about playing theracing game because he has been at the game for 30 minutes, pushing forthe pole position in the final 5 laps, and therefore hot. Thus, in oneexample, the gaming server may determine that gaming establishmentpersonnel should provide the player with a beer or drink. In anotherexample, the gaming server 112 may determine that the action to take isto lower the temperature in that part of the gaming establishment (e.g.turn on an air conditioner or fan near the location of the player). Bylowering the temperature, the gaming establishment ensures that theplayer will remain and continue to play at the gaming machine 104, 106rather than leave because it is too hot.

In still another example, analysis server 118 may determine that sincethe player is wiping sweat off his forehead, has decreased bodytemperature, has clammy hands, and his breathing and heart rate hasincreased, the player may be close to having a heart attack. Thus,gaming server 118 may then determine that the action to take is tonotify the player to stop playing the game by displaying a recommended“Cease Play” message on a display of gaming machines 104, 108.Alternatively, the gaming machine 112 may slow the game down, or end thegame play without player knowledge. Gaming server 118 may also notify oralert gaming establishment personnel of the potential health emergency.

Gaming server 112 may also be configured to help determine additionaladvertisements to display on a display of gaming devices 104, 108.Gaming server 112 may be configured to communicate with player trackingserver 126. Player tracking server 126 may track any desired playerinformation or preferences, such as, accumulated points, likes anddislikes, player's demographic, what games the player prefer or playsoften, what tournaments the player likes to play, what drinks the playeroften or previously ordered, and the like. By comparing the analysisobtained from analysis server 118 and player preferences obtained fromplayer tracking server 126, gaming server 112 may determine optimal andthe type of advertisements to display on a display of the gaming devices104, 108. For example, if analysis server 118 determined that the playeris hot and thirsty and gaming server 112 obtains player information thatthe player likes to drink Budweiser® beer from player tracking server126, gaming server 112 may inform gaming establishment personnel toprovide the player with Budweiser® beer. Additionally, at a convenienttime (e.g. between gaming session, when no input from the player isdetected within a pre-defined period of time, and any otherpredetermined criteria or time) an advertisement for Budweiser® beer maypop-up on a display of the gaming device.

Example 2

The player may be playing a poker game on his mobile gaming device 108while sitting in the sports bar and drinking a glass of soda. Whileplaying the poker game, sensor 110 may track the player's eyes gazedirection. When analyzed in the context of the player's locationinformation from player location database 132 and the venue layoutdatabase 134, the player's gaze may be mapped to a screen in the sportsbar displaying a football game. The eye movement data may be transmittedto gaming server 112. Sensor 110 may also determine that the playertilted his head while his hand, holding a glass, moved upward. Lastly,sensor 110 may further determine that the player suddenly stood up andhis heart rate increased slightly. The gesture data and change statedata may be transmitted to the gaming server 112. Player locationdatabase 132 may contain the location of where the player is within thevenue or gaming establishment. Data in the player location database 132may be updated periodically as desired, such as every 30 seconds, 1-20minutes, 30 minutes, every hour, and the like. Venue layout database 134may contain data about the layout of the venue such as the location ofthe pool, location of each gaming machine, location of restaurant andbars, and the location of any other desired area.

Gaming server may then transmit the received data to analysis server 118for analysis. Analysis server 118 may compare the received eye movementdata to data stored in movement database 122. Analysis server 118 maydetermine that, in the context of the player's current location, time,and gaze direction, eye movement to a display displaying a football gamemay be associated with the context of enjoying watching and/or playingfootball. Analysis server 118 may then compare the received gesture datato data stored in gesture database 120. Analysis server 118 maydetermine that movement of a tilted his head with hands moving upwardwhile holding a glass may be associated with the context of finishing adrink. In other words, the player may have finished drinking his drink.

Analysis server 118 may then compare the received change state data todata stored in state database 124. Analysis server 118 may determinethat movement of suddenly standing up and an increase in heart rate maybe associated with a win from playing the game of chance.

Based on the analysis obtained from analysis server 118, gaming server112 may determine that the player may need another drink and informgaming establishment personnel to send another drink to the player.Advertising server 114 may also determine that advertisements associatedwith football and/or football related advertisements (e.g. beer, sportsdrink, athletic products, and the like) should be pushed to anddisplayed on a display of the mobile gaming device 108. In anotherembodiment, the advertisements may be any other type of advertisementfor the gaming establishment such as advertisements in anticipation ofupcoming events related to the gaming establishment and/or the game ofchance being played on the gaming device (e.g. new game of chancethemes, upcoming bonuses to be received, jackpot size, future pokertournaments, ability to double down in future hands of the current gamesession, and the like).

Example 3

Gaming establishment may anticipate and/or determine the probability ofeye movement (e.g. based on tests, statistics, probability, or any othermethod of probability or determination) to specific areas of the gamingdevices 104, 108. For example, gaming establishment may determine that aperson's gaze or eye movement is highest at lower right hand corner ofthe gaming device 104, 108 where the “Spin” button is located. Each areaor zones of the gaming device 104, 108 may be assigned an advertisementpricing based on the probability of a player's eye gaze. For example, inareas with a higher probability of a player's gaze, the price fordisplaying or presenting the advertisement in that area may be high. Inareas with a lower probability of a player's gaze, such as the billcollector, the price for displaying or presenting the advertisement onor proximate the bill collector may be low.

A player may begin playing a Wheel Of Fortune® game of chance on gamingdevice 104, 108. Sensor 106, 110 may detect the player's gaze at lowerright hand corner of the gaming device 104, 108 where the “Spin” buttonis located at the start of the game and periodically during the gamingsession. The eye movement data, lingering time, the game being played,current time, location of the player, profile of the player, and thelike, may be transmitted to the advertising server 114, via gamingserver 112, to determine what advertisement should be displayed on thegaming device 104, 108 and how much should be charged to the advertiserper ad impression.

Advertising server 114 may have an advertisement database 116 configuredto store advertisement data received from third party advertisers.Stored advertisement data may include method of advertisement (e.g.whether the advertisement is an image, video, audio, or a combination ofthe above), fee for the advertisement, and when the advertisement shouldbe transmitted to the gaming device 104, 108 based on the received eyemovement data. For example, based upon the eye movement data receivedfrom sensor 106, 110, advertising server 114 may determine that anadvertisement for Verizon® should be displayed on gaming device 104,108.

Although gaming server 112, analysis server 118, player tracking server126, and advertising server 114 are illustrated as separate servers,this is not intended to be limiting as they may be incorporated into onegaming server rather than separate servers.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method for determining advertisements todisplay on a gaming device. Method 200 may begin with receiving arequest to play a game of chance at 202 by a gaming server. The game ofchance may be played on a gaming device, such as, gaming machines 104 ormobile gaming devices 108 illustrated in FIG. 1. Mobile gaming devicesmay be any portable device capable of playing games (e.g. games ofchance, video games, and the like) such as, for example, portabletelephones, laptops, computers, notebooks, tablets, media players, andthe like. Although illustrated and described with a request to play agame of chance, it will know be known that this invention may apply tonon-gaming games, such as video games.

The gaming devices may be configured to communicate with a gaming servervia any wired or wireless connection. Wireless connections may be anyknown wireless methods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wirelesstechnology, Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-fieldmagnetic communication, Fire Wire, WiMax, IEEE 802.11x technology, radiofrequency, narrow-beam infrared (IR) sensor, RFID tag, vibration sensoror any other known wireless methods.

The gaming server may transmit gaming data at 204 to initiate the gameof chance on the gaming device. The gaming data may be associated withthe game of chance requested. For example, if a game of black jack isrequested, the gaming data may be associated with a black jack game.

The player's movement, state, location, activity, physiological changes,facial expressions, and/or gestures may be received at 206. The player'smovement, state, and/or gestures may be recorded using any known sensoron the gaming device. For example, a camera may be used to track thegaze of the player's eyes, facial expression, or gestures. Any knownbiological and/or physiological sensor may be used to detect the stateof the player such as a temperature sensor, an IR camera for temperatureimaging, a camera to sense facial emotions, gestures, and the like.States of a player may be any biological or physiological state, forexample, body temperature, oxygen level, heart rate, breathing rate, andany other biological or physiological state. In one embodiment, aninfrared camera that continuously monitors a player's face fortemperature changes in various areas and dynamically compare the changesto a preset baseline measurement to quantify the player's state changes.In another embodiment, a camera that captures the player's facialexpression in visible light and dynamically compare the variation to abaseline measurement to quantify the player's state change (emotionalexpression, in this case). Whenever an optical sensor, such as a camera,is being used, the analysis of state change can be done by comparingvariations between successive video frames using known digital imageprocessing methods such as pixel subtraction, genetic programming, andthe like.

The received eye movement, state, player location, venuecharacteristics, player's game activities, player's demographic, andgesture data may be analyzed at 208. Gaming server may have a databasestoring data related to eye movement, player state, and gesturemovements. The received data may be compared with data stored in thedatabase in order to match the received data with an associated context.The associated context may be an extrapolation, determination, oranticipation of what the player may desire, want, or feel. For example,gaming server may receive data indicating that the player's eye gazed toa picture of a beer and the player's state has increased in bodytemperature.

The gaming server may then determine whether any action should be takenat 210. If no action is determined to be taken at 210, method 200 mayend. In one example, gaming server may determine and inform that gamingestablishment personnel should provide the player with a beer or drink.In another example, the gaming server may determine that the action totake is to lower the temperature in that part of the gamingestablishment (e.g. turn on an air conditioner or fan near the locationof the player). By lowering the temperature, the gaming establishmentensures that the player will remain and continue to play at the gamingmachine rather than leave because it is too hot. Thus, gaming server mayinitiate the action at 212. For example, gaming server may send anotification to the gaming establishment personnel to provide the playerwith a beer or drink.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example method for determining advertisementsto display on a gaming device. Method 300 may begin with receiving arequest to play a game at 302 by a gaming server. The game may be playedon a gaming device, such as, gaming machines 104 or mobile gamingdevices 108 illustrated in FIG. 1. Mobile gaming devices may be anyportable device capable of playing games (e.g. games of chance, videogames, and the like) such as, for example, portable telephones, laptops,computers, notebooks, tablets, media players, and the like. Althoughillustrated and described with a request to play a game of chance, itwill know be known that this invention may apply to non-gaming games,such as video games.

The gaming devices may be configured to communicate with a gaming servervia any wired or wireless connection. Wireless connections may be anyknown wireless methods such as a 3G wireless technology, 4G wirelesstechnology, Bluetooth, wireless universal serial bus, near-fieldmagnetic or communication sensor, Fire Wire, WiMax, IEEE 802.11xtechnology, radio frequency, narrow-beam infrared (IR) sensor, RFID tag,vibration sensor or any other known wireless methods.

The gaming server may transmit gaming data at 304 to initiate the gameof chance on the gaming device. The gaming data may be associated withthe game of chance requested. For example, if a game of black jack isrequested, the gaming data may be associated with a black jack game.

The player's eye movement data may be received at 306. The player's eyemovement may be tracked and/or determined using any known sensor on thegaming device. For example, a camera may be used to track the movementor gaze of the player's eyes. The location of the received eye movementdata, gazing duration, screen location, gaze direction, and the like,may be determined at 308. In one embodiment, the location of the eyemovement data may be determined relative to the gaming device. In otherwords, the gaming server may determine where, on the gaming machine, theplayer gazed at. In another embodiment, the location of the eye movementdata may be determined relative to a screen or display at the bar withinthe gaming establishment.

Gaming establishment may anticipate and/or determine the probability ofeye movement (e.g. based on tests, statistics, probability, or any othermethod of probability or determination) to specific areas of the gamingdevice. For example, gaming establishment may determine that a person'sgaze or eye movement is highest at lower right hand corner of the gamingdevice where the “Spin” button is located. Each area of the gamingdevice may be assigned an advertisement pricing based on the probabilityof a player's eye gaze at 312. For example, in areas with a higherprobability of a player's gaze, the price for the advertisement may behigh. In areas with a lower probability of a player's gaze, such as thebill collector, the price for the advertisement may be low.

An advertisement may then be transmitted to gaming device at 314. Gamingserver may determine, based on the fee paid by third party advertisers,highest bid received in an ad-placement auction, or any other criteria,what advertisements to display on the gaming device.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another example method for determiningadvertisements to display on a gaming device. Method 400 may begin withtransmitting a request to play a game at 402 by a gaming device to aserver, such as gaming server 112 illustrated in FIG. 1. Gaming devicemay be any computing device capable of playing games (e.g. games ofchance, video games, and the like) such as, for example, portabletelephones, laptops, computers, notebooks, tablets, media players, andthe like.

Gaming data may be received at 404 in response to the request to play agame. The gaming data may cause the game to be initiated on the gamingdevice. For example, if the request was to play Keno, the gaming datamay be associated with Keno and Keno games may then be initiated on thegaming device.

The gaming device may have at least one sensor to track differentmovements and states of the player. A determination may be made if eyemovement of the player is detected at 406. If eye movement is detectedat 406, the eye movement may be recorded at 408. For example, if theplayer is playing a car racing game that has many billboards (e.g.billboards advertising food, liquor, electronics, entertainment,tournaments, and the like), the sensor may track whether the player islooking at the billboards while driving the racing car. Still further,the sensor may determine which billboard the player is looking at ifthere is more than one displayed simultaneously. In another embodiment,the sensor may track whether the player is looking at an avatarassociated with playing certain games of chance such as poker. In yetanother embodiment, the sensor may determine that the player is lookingat the spin button on the gaming device.

The sensor may be any known sensor designed to determine or track thegaze of an eye, such as a camera. Additionally, any known eye trackingmovement methods may be used to determine or track the gaze of the eye.

If no eye movement is detected at 406, a determination may be made ifplayer gesture is detected at 410. The gaming device may have at leastone sensor configured to determine or track gestures from the player. Ifa player gesture is detected at 410, the player gesture may be recordedat 412. For example, if the player wins a bonus, the player may smile.If the player lost at a game of chance, the player may turn the smileinto a frown. The sensor may be any known sensor designed to determineor detect gestures, such as a camera. Additionally, any known gesture oremotion detection method may be used to determine or track humangestures.

If no gesture or emotion is detected at 410, a determination may be madeif a player's state change is detected at 414. States of a player may beany biological or physiological state, for example, body temperature,oxygen level, heart rate, breathing rate, facial expression, and anyother biological or physiological state. If no state change is detectedat 410, the method may continue at step 420 as further discussed below.However, if a state change is detected at 414, the state change may berecorded at 416. For example, sensor may detect that a player has alower than normal temperature, low oxygen level and a high heart rate.In another example, sensor may detect a higher than normal temperaturereading and fast heart rate from the player.

The sensors used may be any known sensor designed to determine or detectbiological or physiological changes in a player, such as, for example atemperature sensor, PH level, conductivity, salinity, and the like. Inone embodiment, the temperature sensor may be positioned on the gamingmachine in a location known to be in contact with the player, such asthe “spin” button, “cash out” button, and the like. In anotherembodiment, the temperature sensor may be an IR (infrared) cameraconfigured to detect human temperature. Additionally, any knownbiological or physiological change detection method may be used. In oneembodiment, an infrared camera that continuously monitors a player'sface for temperature changes in various areas and dynamically comparesthe changes to a preset baseline measurement to quantify the player'sstate changes. In another embodiment, a camera that captures theplayer's facial expression in visible light and dynamically compare thevariation to a baseline measurement to quantify the player's statechange (e.g. emotional expression, in this case). Whenever an opticalsensor, such as a camera, is being used, the analysis of state changecan be done by comparing variations between successive video framesusing known digital image processing methods such as pixel subtraction,genetic programming, and the like.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will know realize that above steps408, 410, and 414 may be performed simultaneously or individually. Thesensors may be used alone or in combination. Additionally, each sensormay be invoked at various times throughout game play. For example, if aplayer wipes sweat from his forehead, the state sensor may check todetermine how tired the player is (e.g. check the player's heart rate,body temperature, and the like), and the gaming server may decide toslow down the game and introduce a refreshing beverage image on abillboard. The eye sensor may determine whether the player gazes at thebillboard and send a notification to the gaming establishment to providea drink to the player if it determines that the player looked at thebillboard.

The recorded data (e.g. eye movement, gesture, and state change) may betransmitted to a server at 418. The server may be, for example, gamingserver 112, or the advertisement server 114, illustrated in FIG. 1. Adetermination of whether an advertisement is received is made at 420. Anadvertisement associated with (or not associated with) the recorded datamay be received at the gaming device. If no advertisement is received at420, the method may end. However, if an advertisement is received at420, the advertisement may be presented on a display of the gamingdevice at 422. For example, the server may determine that the player wasgazing at an advertisement for beer, the advertisement may be forBudweiser® beer. In another embodiment, the advertisement may be pricedbased on the location or zone the beer advertisement was displayed asdiscussed in detail above in FIG. 3.

In one embodiment, recorded data may be stored on the gaming server forfuture and/or immediate analysis. For example, through game play, thegaming server may determine that the user felt excitement (e.g.detecting a smile, eyes become wider, heart rate increases, and thelike), felt frustration (e.g. detecting a frown, rolling eyes, handsplaced in a fist, hands banging on the gaming device or nearby object,player shouting some unhappy and/or curse words, and the like), and anyother emotions or state of the player. Analysis of the player's statethroughout game play may help the gaming establishment provide bettercustomer service to its players, provide more customized advertisementto the players, help to determine products to provide to anestablishment's customers, and the like.

For example, “frustration” state is recorded and can be correlated towhen my “flappy bird” crashed into a post. Saving a game state at thetime a player state is recorded is new and fertile ground for futuredevelopment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computer system 500 suitable for usewith at least one embodiment of the invention. The methods, processesand/or graphical user interfaces discussed above can be provided by acomputer system. The computer system 500 includes a display monitor 502having a single or multi-screen display 504 (or multiple displays), acabinet 506, a keyboard 508, and a mouse 510. The mouse 510 isrepresentative of one type of pointing device. The cabinet 506 houses aprocessing unit (or processor), system memory and a hard drive (notshown). The cabinet 506 also houses a drive 512, such as a DVD, CD-ROMor floppy drive. The drive 512 can also be a removable hard drive, aFlash or EEPROM device, etc. Regardless, the drive 512 may be utilizedto store and retrieve software programs incorporating computer code thatimplements some or all aspects of the invention, data for use with theinvention, and the like. Although CD-ROM 514 is shown as an exemplarycomputer readable storage medium, other computer readable storage mediaincluding floppy disk, tape, Flash or EEPROM memory, memory card, systemmemory, and hard drive may be utilized. In one implementation, asoftware program for the computer system 500 is provided in the systemmemory, the hard drive, the drive 512, the CD-ROM 514 or other computerreadable storage medium and serves to incorporate the computer code thatimplements some or all aspects of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example computing system. The computingsystem 600 may be the gaming server 112, gaming machine 104, mobilegaming device 108, analysis server 118, player tracking server 126,advertising server 114 illustrated in FIG. 1, or any other server orcomputing device used to carry out the various embodiments disclosedherein. The computing system 600 may include a processor 602 thatpertains to a microprocessor or controller for controlling the overalloperation of the computing system 600. The computing system 600 maystore any type of data and information as discussed above in a filesystem 604 and a cache 606. The file system 604 is, typically, a storagedisk or a plurality of disks. The file system 604 typically provideshigh capacity storage capability for the computing system 600. However,since the access time to the file system 604 is relatively slow, thecomputing system 600 can also include a cache 606. The cache 606 is, forexample, Random-Access Memory (RAM) provided by semiconductor memory.The relative access time to the cache 606 is substantially shorter thanfor the file system 604. However, the cache 606 does not have the largestorage capacity of the file system 604. Further, the file system 604,when active, consumes more power than does the cache 606. The computingsystem 600 also includes a RAM 620 and a Read-Only Memory (ROM) 622. TheROM 622 can store programs, utilities or processes to be executed in anon-volatile manner. The RAM 620 provides volatile data storage, such asfor the cache 606.

The computing system 600 also includes a user input device 608 thatallows a user of the computing system 600 to interact with the computingsystem 600. For example, the user input device 608 can take a variety offorms, such as a button, keypad, dial, and the like. Still further, thecomputing system 600 includes a display 610 (screen display) that can becontrolled by the processor 602 to display information, such as a listof upcoming appointments, to the user. A data bus 611 can facilitatedata transfer between at least the file system 604, the cache 606, theprocessor 602, and the CODEC 612.

In one embodiment, the computing system 600 serves to store a pluralityof player tracking and/or third party advertiser data in the file system604. When a user desires to have the computing system display aparticular advertisement, a list of the various third party advertisersmay be displayed on the display 610.

The computing system 600 may also include a network/bus interface 616that couples to a data link 618. The data link 618 allows the computingsystem 600 to couple to a host computer or data network, such as theInternet. The data link 618 can be provided over a wired connection or awireless connection. In the case of a wireless connection, thenetwork/bus interface 616 can include a wireless transceiver.

While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentionedabove are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for selecting advertisements,comprising: receiving, by a gaming server, a request to play a game ofchance from a gaming device configured to receive a wager; transmittinggaming data to a gaming device, the gaming data associated with therequested game of chance; receiving player data, the player dataincluding at least a gesture of the player, an eye movement of theplayer, or a state change of the player, wherein the player dataincludes at least eye movement data of the player; analyzing the playerdata, wherein the analyzed player data is in part based on the eyemovement data of the player; determining at least one advertisementbased upon the analyzed player data, the determining of the at least oneadvertisement is at least in part based on the eye movement data of theplayer; transmitting the at least one advertisement to the gamingdevice; determining an action to take based on the player data; andrecording the determined action taken or to take associated with theplayer data.
 2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the state changepertains to a physiological state of the player.
 3. The method recitedin claim 1, wherein the method comprises: transmitting a notification toa gaming establishment associated with the gaming device, thenotification to the gaming establishment including at least thedetermined action taken or to take.
 4. The method recited in claim 1,wherein the gaming device is a portable gaming device.
 5. The methodrecited in claim 1, wherein the player data includes at least gesturedata of the player, and wherein the analyzed player data is in partbased on the gesture data of the player.
 6. An electronic gamingmachine, comprising: at least one data storage unit configured to storegame data for a game played by a player, the game comprising wageringand payout elements; a display unit configured to display, via agraphical user interface, graphical information of the game inaccordance with a set of game rules for the game; at least one paymentmechanism configured to provide payment to the player based on the game;at least one data capture unit configured to collect player datarepresentative of movement or state of the player; and at least oneprocessing device configured to (i) determine an advertising preferenceof the player based on the player data, (ii) select, at least in partbased on the advertising preference, a selected advertisement from aplurality of available advertisements; and (iv) modify the graphicalinformation already being displayed via the graphical user interface, todisplay at least the selected advertisement, wherein the player dataincludes at least player movement data, wherein the player movement dataincludes an eye movement of the player, and wherein the at least oneprocessing device is configured to select the selected advertisementbased at least in part on the eye movement data of the player.
 7. Theelectronic gaming machine recited in claim 6, wherein the at least oneprocessing device is further configured to cause the player datapertaining to the player to be stored in a database, the player databeing stored in association with the player.
 8. The electronic gamingmachine recited in claim 6, wherein the data capture unit comprises acamera configured to capture an image of the player, the player datacomprising the image.
 9. The electronic gaming machine recited in claim6, wherein the player data includes a gesture of the player.
 10. Theelectronic gaming machine recited in claim 6, wherein the electronicgaming machine is a slot machine.
 11. The electronic gaming machinerecited in claim 10, wherein the at least one data capture unit includesat least a camera.
 12. The electronic gaming machine recited in claim 6,wherein the data capture unit comprises a gesture sensor configured todetect gestures by the player.
 13. The electronic gaming machine recitedin claim 6, wherein the electronic gaming machine is a slot machine. 14.A method comprising: displaying, via a graphical user interface of adisplay unit, graphical game information of a game in accordance withgame data comprising a set of game rules for the game stored on a datastorage unit of an electronic gaming system; collecting, via a datacapture unit, player data representative of movement of at least onephysical attribute of the player or of a state of the player, the playerdata including at least eye movement data of the player; determining, bya processing device, an advertising preference of the player based onthe player data, the determining of the advertising preference being atleast in part dependent on the eye movement data of the player;selecting, by the processing device, a selected advertisement of aplurality of available advertisements at least in part based on theadvertising preference; and modifying, by the processing device, thegraphical user interface to display the selected advertisement.
 15. Themethod recited in claim 14, wherein the data capture unit comprises agesture sensor configured to detect gestures by the player.
 16. Themethod recited in claim 15, wherein the player data being collectedcomprises a 3D player data.
 17. The electronic gaming machine recited inclaim 15, wherein the gesture sensor comprises a 3D sensor.
 18. Themethod recited in claim 14, wherein the electronic gaming systemincludes a plurality of gaming devices.
 19. The method recited in claim15, wherein one or more of the gaming devices are mobile gaming devices.20. The electronic gaming machine recited in claim 19, wherein theelectronic gaming system includes at least a gaming server.